You aint lyin to me are you?
So why would you tell me about him.
He didnt kill ever one of them.
Thats a belief that you have?
No.
You drove up here from Sanderson?
Were you all havin problems?
Or wouldnt.
Moss turned his head and looked at the man again. How long have you been here?
He was surprised to find the police tape still across both of the rooms. He went on to his own room and set his bag in the chair and got out his shavingkit and went in the bathroom and turned on the light. He brushed his teeth and washed his face and went back into the room and stretched out on the bed. After a while he got up and went to the chair and turned the bag sideways and unzipped a compartment in the bottom and took out a suede leather pistolcase. He unzipped the case and took out a stainless steel .357 revolver and went back to the bed and took off his boots and stretched out again with the pistol beside him.
Have you got yesterdays paper here?
I know you did.
How much is it. Altogether.
Yessir. You have my attention.
Well, I guess in all honesty I would have to say that I never knew nor did I ever hear of anybody that money didnt change. Id have to say hed be the first.
There was a pitcher of water on a plastic tray on the bedside table. Moss no more than glanced at it.
Sure.
When I got out of high school I was still sixteen and I got a job at Wal-Mart. I didnt know what else to do. We needed the money. What little it was. Anyway, the night before I went down there I had this dream. Or it was like a dream. I think I was still about half awake. But it come to me in this dream or whatever it was that if I went down there that he would find me. At the Wal-Mart. I didnt know who he was or what his name was or what he looked like. I just knew that Id know him when I seen him. I kept a calendar and marked the days. Like when youre in jail. I mean I aint never been in jail, but like you would probably. And on the ninety-ninth day he walked in and he asked me where sportin goods was at and it was him. And I told him where it was at and he looked at me and went on. And directly he come back and he read my nametag and he said my name and he looked at me and he said: What time do you get off? And that was all she wrote. There was not no question in my mind. Not then, not now, not ever.
What makes you say that?
How do you mean.
I know him yet. He aint changed.
I dont know what youre talkin about.
What did I say?
All right.
Sugar?
Yes mam.
About your husband?
You dont know where hes at, do you.
Wires must be down.
Wells studied him. He turned and looked out the window. You dont have anything to do with any of this, do you?
Youd rather deal with me than with this sugar guy.
I didnt make out so good.
He rose and laid the bouquet on the bedside table and sat back in the chair again.
Id die and live in hell forever fore Id turn snitch on Llewelyn. I hope you understand that.
Yeah. Good on me.
What did you do before you retired?
Its not me hes in trouble with.
I need to think about it.
Nice.
Yes mam.
Are you in a lot of pain?
We dont have problems. When we have problems we fix em.
He was in a shoot-out at Eagle Pass yesterday.
Wells shrugged. Wary is the word Id use.
The Moss boy?
Thats a nice story, Bell said. I hope it has a nice endin.
Wells smiled. He gave a little shrug. He looked down at the toe of his boot and uncrossed his legs and passed the toe under his jeans to dust it and recrossed his legs again. What do you do? he said.
No, I guess it wouldnt.
Well, youre lucky people.
And what do you do now.
I do. Yes.
You tellin me he wasnt hit?
It is community and it is respect, of course, but the dead have more claims on you than what you might want to admit or even what you might know about and them claims can be very strong indeed. Very strong indeed. You get the feelin they just dont want to turn loose. So any little thing helps, in that respect.
Were you in Nam?
I dont know.
Yes mam. I do. The people of Terrell County hired me to look after em. Thats my job. I get paid to be the first one hurt. Killed, for that matter. Id better care.
Wells stood over the woman studying her. Shed been shot through the forehead and had tilted forward leaving part of the back of her skull and a good bit of dried brainmatter stuck to the slat of the rocker behind her. She had a newspaper in her lap and she was wearing a cotton robe that was black with dried blood. It was cold in the room. Wells looked around. A second shot had marked a date on a calendar on the wall behind her that was three days hence. You could not help but notice. He looked around the rest of the room. He took a small camera from his jacket pocket and took a couple of pictures of the dead woman and put the camera back in his pocket again. Not what you had in mind at all, was it darling? he told her.
Im coffeed out. I didnt want none to start with.
All right.
Wells thought about it. I guess Id say that he doesnt have a sense of humor.
You didnt mention Bell.
Im retired.
Well, Id say theres only one youve got to worry about right now.
Whats his name.
She took a long pull on the cigarette. She studied Bell. Sheriff, she said, I think Im probably just about as worried as I need to be.
No.
Maybe I should ask you.
Is that what the doctor told you?
I dont know.
Some Mexican dopedealer.
Have you thought about that?
This guy.
You get the lab report and youll see.
Yes you do.
I take it you dont think much of him.
He listened for about two minutes. Then he said: I appreciate you callin me. Yep. Its just out and out war is what it is. I dont know no other name for it.
Wells smiled. Well good on you, he said.
Well good for him.
Thats all right.
We got a loose cannon here. And were missing product and were out a bunch of money.
What did you want.
Were you here when all this took place?
How much money do you think he has?
Let me rephrase that. What time is your shift over.
How long have you all been married?
Not word one.
Do you think she was tellin the truth?
When he woke it was almost dark. He rose and went to the window and pushed back the old lace curtain. Lights in the street. Long reefs of dull red cloud racked over the darkening western horizon. Roofs in a low and squalid skyline. He put the pistol in his belt and pulled his shirt outside of his trousers to cover it and went out and down the hallway in his sockfeet.
You used to know him.
She looked off across the cafe. The empty tables. The night cashier was a boy about eighteen and he was bent over the glass counter reading a magazine. My mamas got cancer, she said. She aint got all that long to live.
About three hours.
In all honesty I cant say that charm has had a whole lot to do with it.
No, I might not. But that wouldnt be good news for you.
Thats good. Im glad Ive got your attention.
I started to say thats some more of your business, aint it.
Yessir. That would be fourteen-seventy.
Do you really care?
He walked over and pushed the door all the way back. There was a bloodstained washcloth in the sink. The other towel was missing. Bloody handprints. A bloody handprint on the edge of the showercurtain. I hope you havent crawled off in a hole somewhere, he said. I sure would like to get paid.
Yessir. Is it just yourself?
Do you know who the man is?
I dont think so.
Thats all right. I laughed myself when I read it. There aint a whole lot else you can do.
He set the cup down and looked at the girl. I wish I could say that was in his favor. But I have to say I dont think it is.
I dont intend to do anything. I dont have to. Youll come to me. Sooner or later. You dont have a choice. Im going to give you my mobile phone number.
Moss didnt answer. He lay on the rough linen looking at the ceiling. He was in pain and it was getting worse. You dont know what the hell youre talkin about, he said.
Youre sure.
Some of us will. What did you do with the money?
Even if he gets the money back. It wont make any difference to him. Even if you went to him and gave him the money he would still kill you. Just for having inconvenienced him.
Youre not curious to know why Id tell you?
What?
THE OFFICE WAS ON the seventeenth floor with a view over the skyline of Houston and the open lowlands to the ship channel and the bayou beyond. Colonies of silver tanks. Gas flares, pale in the day. When Wells showed up the man told him to come in and told him to shut the door. He didnt even turn around. He could see Wells in the glass. Wells shut the door and stood with his hands crossed before him at the wrist. The way a funeral director might stand.
He got a city map at the quickstop and spread it out on the seat of the cruiser while he drank coffee out of a styrofoam cup. He traced his route on the map with a yellow marker from the glovebox and refolded the map and laid it on the seat beside him and switched off the domelight and started the engine.
Who are you?
I got no idea, Ed Tom.
I dont know what youre talkin about.
Whered he catch it?
Yes.
Driving back to Sanderson it began to snow. He went to the courthouse and did some paperwork and left just before dark. When he pulled up in the driveway behind the house his wife was looking out from the kitchen window. She smiled at him. The falling snow drifted and turned in the warm yellow light.
The clerk was tall and thin, maybe Mexican and maybe not. His eyes darted briefly over the lobby of the hotel. As if there might be something out there to help him. I just came on at six, he said. The shift is over at two.
She watched him. How come you to ask me that, she said.
I dont need you to do me no favors.
Well, she said, hes who he is and he always will be. Thats why I married him.
I just wanted to visit with you a little bit. Talk to you about your husband.
He backed away and looked under the desk. No sir, he said. I think they threw it out.
I dont mean braze.
Cash. How much is it?
If he had any sense. I think them boys in the car got caught in a crossfire. It looks to me like they was shootin towards the hotel and up the street yonder both.
When was it.
What do you want to know?
Do you know how long it took me to find you?
Its possible. That wouldnt be the end of it though, would it?
Good hunting, as we used to say. Once upon a time. In the long ago.
Why dont you put them damn flowers down.
I guess because I think if I could get you to understand the position youre in it would make my job easier. I dont know anything about you. But I know youre not cut out for this. You think you are. But youre not.
Bell nodded.
You look dumbern hell settin there.
Wells smiled.
Yes.
Wells nodded. He looked thoughtful. Maybe I should ask you what you intend to do.
What makes you think I wont just disappear?
He stood and put a card on the table next to the flowers. He looked at Moss. You think you wont call me but you will. Just dont wait too long. That money belongs to my client.
The clerk pushed the pad toward Wells and turned to study the keys hanging on the board. Wells filled out the form. I know youre tired of people asking, he said, but what happened to your hotel?
Did you want some coffee?
Ive felt better. Who are you?
Pot metal?
No. He aint. I know him.
Talk then.
When Wells got to the hotel the plastic ribbons were gone and the glass and wood had been swept up out of the lobby and the place was open for business. There was plywood nailed over the doors and two of the windows and there was a new clerk standing at the desk where the old clerk had been. Yessir, he said.
She smiled. They ate.
Yessir.
About my husband. Yes.
The nightclerk got killed. About as bad a piece of luck as you could have, I reckon.
I sprayed double ought buckshot all over him. I cant believe it done him a whole lot of good.
I could tell you some things that would be useful for you to know.
You want some more coffee?
What do you reckon their car was doin in the middle of the intersection thataway?
Nothin.
He killed the ones that were left.
Hard to say. Could be in the millions. Well, not too many millions. He carried it out of there on foot.
He took off his hat and laid it in the booth beside him and ran his hand through his hair.
The nightclerk.
Has somethin happened that you know about and I dont?
Yes.
They walked into the lobby and stood. Somebody had thrown a couple of towels over the blood in the carpet behind the desk but the blood had soaked through the towels. He wasnt shot, Bell said.
I cant believe its all that good a situation.
No. It dont. If he lives that long.
She didnt answer.
I know how he found me. He wont do it again.
What is that.
The clerk laid the key on the desk. Will that be cash or credit card?
Maybe he didnt shoot me. Maybe it was one of the Mexicans.
Im just pulling your leg. You need to relax. Theyre not coming back. I can pretty near guarantee it.
I couldnt come back up in that elevator, could I?
Like livin happily ever after?
You could put it in the papers anyway.
All right.
No, she said.
You might not get so lucky again.
I need to get back, she said.
Moss turned his head and lay staring at the ceiling. How many of you people are there?
It happened just like that.
Bullshit.
Bell. All right?
You always tried to be available for your social events and I would always go to things like cemetery cleanins of course. That was all right. The women would fix dinner on the ground and of course it was a way of campaignin but you were doin somethin for folks that couldnt do it for theirselves. Well, you could be cynical about it I reckon and say that you just didnt want em comin around at night. But I think it goes deeper than that.
Youre in a lot of pain. It makes it hard to think. Let me get the nurse.
I just hope youll talk to him.
This account will only give up twelve hundred dollars in any twenty-four hour period.
I dont know his name. He was the dayclerk.
You go to hell.
Dead bodies in the street. Citizens businesses all shot up. Peoples cars. Whoever heard of such a thing?
No. Its called statistics. Just how dangerous is he?
Youre entitled to your opinions.
I was a lieutenant colonel.
The man who was on duty the night before last. Where is he?
I guess thats it. Were these Pablos men?
I didnt expect to hear from him.
You pay your own expenses if I remember correctly.
No I aint.
Yes. You know what the liver does?
Yes mam.
All right. Have you got a gun?
Yeah. I was in Nam.
And pretend youre what?
I dont live with her. I aint that ignorant. This is just temporary.
I think you know who I am. I brought you some flowers.
Yes. Let me get you some water.
Goin yon way, I reckon.
Can I ask you somethin?
What about that guy that come to the hotel.
Do you remember the last time it snowed here?
I said how much is it altogether. You need to tell me how much it is. Give me a figure.
Not in the sense that you mean. But reasonably sure. They werent ours. He killed two other men a couple of days before and those two did happen to be ours. Along with the three at that colossal goatfuck a few days before that. All right?
Wells satquietly with his legs crossed. Moss looked at him. You think you can scare me with this guy. You dont know what youre talkin about. Ill take you out with him if thats what you want.
Do you want some water? Wells said.
Wells smiled and tapped the fiberboard keyfob twice on the marble desktop and went up the stairs.
I dont know. I dont know how nothin is goin to end. Do you?
Youre askin me to believe what you say. But youre the one sayin it.
What I was sayin the other day about the papers. Here last week they found this couple out in California they would rent out rooms to old people and then kill em and bury em in the yard and cash their social security checks. Theyd torture em first, I dont know why. Maybe their television was broke. Now heres what the papers had to say about that. I quote from the papers. Said: Neighbors were alerted when a man run from the premises wearin only a dogcollar. You cant make up such a thing as that. I dare you to even try.
She got her cigarettes out and lit one and turned her face and blew the smoke out into the room. Bell watched her. How do you think this is goin to end? he said.
Yeah. We can go over.
Cast iron?
Moss woke in a ward with sheeting hung between him and the bed to his left. A shadowshow of figures there. Voices in Spanish. Dim noises from the street. A motorcycle. A dog. He turned his face on the pillow and looked into the eyes of a man sitting on a metal chair against the wall holding a bouquet of flowers. How are you feeling? the man said.
She got her purse and rose. Bell picked up the check and squared his hat again and eased up from the booth. She put her cigarettes in her purse and looked at him. Ill tell you somethin, Sheriff. Nineteen is old enough to know that if you have got somethin that means the world to you its all that more likely itll get took away. Sixteen was, for that matter. I think about that.
I brought you a couple of photographs.
I dont really have any reason to protect you.
I dont know. Has he?
Sir?
And?
Im not supposed to discuss it.
Llewelyn aint done nothin.
So what does that make me? Your buddy?
Who wasnt shot.
They walked up the stairs. The porch of the hotel was covered in glass and the woodwork shot up.
A darkened room. Faint smell of rot. He stood until his eyes were accustomed to the dimness. A parlor. A pianola or small organ against the far wall. A chifforobe. A rockingchair by the window where an old woman sat slumped.
I dont know.
Nothing.
I know you aint supposed to ask a woman her age but I couldnt help but be a bit curious.
I can do that myself.
This isnt going to go away. Even if you got lucky and took out one or two people — which is unlikely — theyd just send someone else. Nothing would change. Theyll still find you. Theres nowhere to go. You can add to your troubles the fact that the people who were delivering the product dont have that either. So guess who theyre looking at?
Thats all right. Im nineteen. I look younger.
I think you have me confused with somebody who gives a shit what you were in.
I dont think so.
I might.
But you aint heard from him in a while.
He wasnt here the night before last.
Because you didnt. He came out into the street and killed every one of the Mexicans and then went back into the hotel. Like you might go out and get a paper or something.
Do you know what two centimeters is?
It recodes itself after every trip. A randomly generated five digit number. It doesnt print out anywhere. I dial a number and it reads the code back over the phone. I give it to you and you punch it in. Does that answer your question?
Yessir. I understand that.
The man tapped his knuckles on the desk. He looked up. Id just like to know your opinion of him. In general. The invincible Mr Chigurh.
Which is?
Youre full of shit.
I took those pictures this morning. The woman lived in an apartment on the second floor of one of the buildings you shot up. The bodys still there.
These people will kill him, Carla Jean. They wont quit.
The man finally turned and looked at him. You know Anton Chigurh by sight, is that correct?
Any of it. If it can be welded I can weld it.
I counted the floors from the street.
Bell nodded. I hope it comes a blizzard then.
Well enough.
Well. He aint dead yet.
Right between the eyes.
Can we go over and take a look?
Some. Yeah.
I hope thats more comfort to you than it is to me.
Chigurh is an outlaw. Times not on your side. We can even let you keep some of it. But if I have to recover the funds from Chigurh then it will be too late for you. Not to mention your wife.
Yes.
Bell nodded. He sipped his coffee. The face that lapped and shifted in the dark liquid in the cup seemed an omen of things to come. Things losing shape. Taking you with them.
Bell nodded. My wife was eighteen when we married. Just had turned. Marryin her makes up for ever dumb thing I ever done. I even think I still got a few left in the account. I think Im way in the black on that. Are you ready?
Itll come to you.
Thats all right. You dont care if I keep on callin you Sheriff do you?
No sir, I dont.
Three years. Almost three years.
Do you care if I call you Carla?
The heroin. You dont have it.
What product.
I hope thats true.
Bell nodded. You ought to be more worried about him I guess is what Im sayin.
Im sorry mam, he said. Hes all right. Your husband is all right. I just wanted to talk to you if I could.
Then what is it youre not supposed to discuss?
She stubbed out her cigarette. Well, she said. Im sorry you come all this way not to do no better than what you done.
Wouldnt then. How much money is it?
No sir.
Thank you sir. Can I ask you something?
Wells sat back in the chair. He studied Moss. You think you killed him?
No you didnt. How do you know hes not on his way to Odessa?
Good day, Mr Wells.
Yes.
Not to mention the DEA and various other law enforcement agencies. Everybodys list has got the same name on it. And its the only name on it. You need to throw me a bone.
You.
I call her mama. Shes really my grandmother. She raised me and I was lucky to have her. Well. Lucky dont even say it.
Sheriff Bell, he said.
Im a welder.
I mean as a civilian.
They walked up to the hotel.
And for how many nights would that be.
If you like.
But thats what it took, youll notice. All that hollerin and diggin in the yard didnt bring it.
Moss didnt answer.
Yeah.
That aint a crime.
Sir?
I go by Carla Jean.
You dont have much to do, do you?
Bell stirred his coffee. He sat holding the steaming spoon above the cup, then he laid it in the saucer. I dont know, he said. I know hed be a damn fool if he didnt.
Im sorry to hear that.
They drove down to the Sunshine Cafe and sat in a booth at the rear and ordered coffee.
Yes.
They sat in the little diningroom and ate. Shed put on music, a violin concerto. The phone didnt ring.
Yes. I did. At one time.
Well, I go back to what I just said. I dont need no favors.
Do you think that boy is still alive?
Sorry.
Why would you tell me.
Some pretty bad people.
Yes you did. You made out extremely well.
Theres a floor missing.
I know what its called.
How well do you know Chigurh.
You didnt take the product, did you?
I dont think of him at all. Hes a redneck sheriff in a hick town in a hick county. In a hick state. Let me get the nurse. Youre not very comfortable. This is my number. I want you to think it over. What we talked about.
Thats nice, Bell said.
Who.
How come you live with her?
About an hour.
Why do you think that?
No. He aint been charged with nothin.
Ill tell you somethin if you want to hear it.
Youre a hit man.
Fully automatic?
Its called a transponder, Wells said.
Yes mam.
Yessir.
No. I could ask you the same thing.
Ill bet.
That dont mean he wont be.
All right. You might want to call her. When I talked to her she sounded pretty worried.
Wells smiled. He leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs. He wore an expensive pair of Lucchese crocodile boots. How do you think he found you?
Why not.
Fourteen plus tax.
If I want somethin from you youll be the first son of a bitch to know about it.
Bell smiled. Yes mam, he said. Im the one sayin it. I just hope youll think about what I did say. I aint makin up a word about the kind of trouble hes in. If he gets killed then I got to live with that. But I can do it. I just want you to think about if you can.
November twenty-eighth of last year.
No.
No sir. He was the dayclerk.
Bell studied her. No, he said. I couldnt.
Why dont you just pretend I aint the sheriff.
He sipped the coffee and set the mug down on the table. He watched her. He needs to turn the money in, he said. Theyd put it in the papers. Then maybe these people would leave him alone. I cant guarantee that they will. But they might. Its the only chance hes got.
I want to hear it.
The man unlocked a drawer in the desk and took out a steel box and unlocked that and took out a card and closed the box and locked it and put it away again. He held up the card between two fingers and looked at Wells and Wells stepped forward and took it.
I like to do one thing at a time, if thats what you mean.
Are you afraid of this guy?
Somewhere in the world is the most invincible man. Just as somewhere is the most vulnerable.
Thats not the point. Im trying to tell you something.
To kill your wife.
He went into the bathroom. He ran his forefinger around the sink. A washcloth and handtowel had been used but not the soap. He ran his finger down the side of the tub and then wiped it along the seam of his trousers. He sat on the edge of the tub and tapped his foot on the tiles.
All right.
What is?
You asked about him.
Its not the only way he has of finding you.
The man cocked his head slightly. This is an attempt at humor I suppose.
It took him about fifteen seconds to get into Mosss room and he shut the door behind him without disturbing the tape. He leaned against the door and smelled the room. Then he stood there just looking things over.
Why would he go to Odessa?
I thought maybe he was a buddy of yours.
Yeah. Its a measurement.
No sir. I only started here yesterday. This is just my second shift.
You cant count on em to kill one another off like this on a regular basis. But I expect some cartel will take it over sooner or later and theyll wind up just dealin with the Mexican Government. Theres too much money in it. Theyll freeze out these country boys. It wont be long, neither.
How do you happen to remember the date?
Bell picked up his hat and put it on and squared it. Well, he said. You do the best you can. Sometimes things turns out all right.
I know it did. I appreciate you talkin to me. I guess Id better cut you loose, late as it is.
Its the thing youre talkin about. Ive heard it compared to the rock — maybe in the bible—and I wouldnt disagree with that. But itll be here even when the rock is gone. Im sure theys people would disagree with that. Quite a few, in fact. But I never could find out what any of them did believe.
No.
No I dont.
All right.
Somethin like that.
What time do youget off?
He never has.
Oh.
All right. Send me up a couple of whores and a fifth of whiskey with some ice.
I dont happen to remember it. I remember dates. Numbers.
When he knocked at the door Llewelyns wife answered it. As she opened the door he took off his hat and he was right away sorry hed done it. She put her hand to her mouth and reached for the doorjamb.
One other thing.
The other room was number 227. He went in and closed the door and turned and stood.
What kind of shellcasins did you all pick up?
About havin problems?
Theres days Im in favor of givin the whole damn place back to em, the sheriff said.
Hes not with us anymore.
The waitress brought the coffee in two heavy white china mugs. Bell stirred his with his spoon. He raised the spoon and looked into the smoking silver bowl of it. How much money did he give you?
We can talk about him.
When did you last see him?
Probably just the one.
Bell smiled. No, he said. Thats fine.
I dont think thats how I would describe him.
It dont move about from place to place and it dont change from time to time. You cant corrupt it any more than you can salt salt. You cant corrupt it because thats what it is.
I think I done a little more than inconvenience him.
I take it you used to work with him.
The sort of people I contract with like to keep a low profile. They dont like to get involved in things that draw attention. They dont like things in the paper.
I wondered if I could get my parking ticket validated.
Sir?
How do you know I wont cut a deal with him?
Sir?
He wont neither. He never has.
Yes.
I know why youd tell me.
You cant make a deal with him. Let me say it again. Even if you gave him the money hed still kill you. Theres no one alive on this planet thats ever had even a cross word with him. Theyre all dead. These are not good odds. Hes a peculiar man. You could even say that he has principles. Principles that transcend money or drugs or anything like that.
About havin problems.
Yessir, thats correct.
Thats pretty close. Ill let you think about it.
Well you cant come in here. Youll scare Mama to death. Let me get my coat.
You just happened to find the vehicles out there.
Tires and glass shot out of the cars and holes in the sheet-metal with the little rings of bare steel around them. The Cadillac had been towed off and the glass in the street swept up and the blood hosed away.
Thats not an answer.
She rose and went to the sideboard and unplugged the percolator and brought it to the table and poured his cup and sat down again. Just dont come home dead some evenin, she said. I wont put up with it.
Did you take it off the hook?
All right.
A shoot-out. People dead in the streets. You dont read the papers.
The first thing he did was to walk carefully over the carpet. When he came across the depression where the bed had been moved he swung the bed out into the room. He knelt and blew at the dust and he studied the nap of the carpet. He rose and picked up the pillows and smelled them and put them back. He left the bed standing quarterwise in the room and walked over to the wardrobe and opened the doors and looked in and closed them again.
Whos he in trouble with then?
Or I might take him out.
I think I hit him.
You know hes in trouble.
Llewelyns awful smart.
Nobodys invincible.
All in.
Llewelyn can take care of hisself.
I dont know. I hope he is.
I can make him go away.
Wells smiled. A hit man.
I do understand that.
Well see, wont we?
Yes I would.
You mean why would you tell me.
I know how it aint.
I find people. Settle accounts. That sort of thing.
Hes goin to wind up killin somebody. Have you thought about that?
Sure. Why not?
He will.
No mam. I dont lie.
You aint heard from him?
All right.
Maybe.
I need a room, Wells said.
Wells shrugged. Compared to what? The bubonic plague? Hes bad enough that you called me. Hes a psychopathic killer but so what? Theres plenty of them around.
Thats up from a thousand.
Yessir. I hope to hell not. I didnt even want to take this job.
She never did much like Llewelyn. I dont know why. No reason in particular. He was always good to her. I thought after she got diagnosed shed be easier to live with but she aint. Shes got worse.
No. I dont have it.
You think hes left me, dont you.
He pulled up in front of the sheriffs office in Eagle Pass at nine-fifteen in the morning and he and the sheriff sat in the office and drank coffee and looked at the photos taken in the street two blocks away three hours earlier.
Or you might think it anyway.
Just settin there.
Do you really hope that, Sheriff?
Wells sat bent forward in the chair with his forearms across his knees, his fingers laced together. He shook his head. Youre not paying attention, he said.
Well hell be the first then.
How would you describe him.
It keeps you alive. Do you know who the man is who shot you?
Its about three quarters of an inch.
WE COME HERE FROM Georgia. Our family did. Horse and wagon. I pretty much know that for a fact. I know theys a lots of things in a family history that just plain aint so. Any family. The stories gets passed on and the truth gets passed over. As the sayin goes. Which I reckon some would take as meanin that the truth cant compete. But I dont believe that. I think that when the lies are all told and forgot the truth will be there yet.
Yes. I do.
I never did learn no shortcuts about things such as that. I hope I never do.
Right.
No I dont. I done told you.
He was abroad in the morning at first light walking the streets and making notes in his head. The pavement had been hosed off but you could still see bloodstains in the concrete of the walkway where Moss had been shot. He went back to Main Street and started again. Bits of glass in the gutters and along the sidewalks. Some of it windowglass and some of it from curbside automobiles. The windows that had been shot out were boarded up with plywood but you could see the pocks in the brickwork or the teardrop smears of lead that had come down from the hotel. He walked back to the hotel and sat on the steps and looked at the street. The sun was coming up over the Aztec Theatre. Something caught his eye at the second floor level. He got up and walked down and crossed the street and climbed the stairs. Two bulletholes in the windowglass. He tapped at the door and waited. Then he opened the door and went in.
Yessir.
You can see yourself out? the man said.
Who was it in the hotel do you reckon?
Why do you say that?
You understand that.
Except I wouldnt tell you.
I was just interested. Security. Always interesting.
Bell nodded. I aint a stranger to them thoughts, Carla Jean. Them thoughts is very familiar to me.
The street was still roped off but there wasnt much to see. The front of the Eagle Hotel was all shot up and there was broken glass in the sidewalk down both sides of the street.
What am I supposed to make of that? he said.
Mostly nine millimeter with some shotgun hulls and a few .380s. We got a shotgun and two machineguns.
The bed had not been slept in. The bathroom door was open. A bloody towel lay in the floor.
And who comes on at two.
Moss didnt answer.
Chigurh.
But you dont believe that.
Thats the distance that round missed your liver by.
So was I.
Is he a buddy of yours?
He aint been charged with nothin?
When he was gone Moss turned up the photographs lying on the bed. Like a player checking his hole cards. He looked at the pitcher of water but then the nurse came in.
I spent about two million dollars on whores and whiskey and the rest of it I just sort of blew it in.
What do you do.
He was in Vietnam.
Because hes not somebody you really want to know. The people he meets tend to have very short futures. Nonexistent, in fact.
I hear you, said Bell.
She smiled. I think its just the snow. I think it makes people stop and think.
All right. I guess that will do it.
He rose and laid two photos on the bed and sat back down again. Moss glanced at them.
Yes I do.
My name is Carson Wells.
I was in special forces.
If Acostas people hadnt shown up when they did I dont think you would have made out so good.
A shoot-out?
You can ask.
You might think Im peculiar.
He studied Wells. Youve led something of acharmed life, havent you Mr Wells?
I didnt say braze.
I better not do it then.
All right.
You may never hear another word about any of this.
No, I cant say as I do. Do you?
Whatever you call it.
Yeah. I got a gun. I guess you think Im just bait settin up here.
No. Am I supposed to?
Somebody is.
Yes, the man said. What else.
What is he supposed to be, the ultimate bad-ass?
Chigurh. Anton Chigurh.
Ill have to look into it.
Acetylene? Mig? Tig?
Not to this floor. Why?
Maybe I just dont believe what you say.
I think were still in America.
Tell me.
But thats what you think.
Caught a stray round.
I just wondered if you were.
Youre not listening. You need to pay attention. This man wont stop looking for you.
Yes we are.
She didnt answer. Bell smiled. What did you start to say? he said. You can say it.
Yes.
The music. Supper. Bein home.
Yeah.
He wasnt shot?
He was asleep in his bed and it still mostly dark out when the phone rang. He looked at the old radium dial clock on the night table and reached and picked up the phone.
Do you think hell send for her?
You care if I smoke? she said.
The man nodded. He was standing behind his desk. The desk was of polished stainless steel and walnut and there wasnt anything on it. Not a picture or a piece of paper.
Wells smiled.
The sheriff stood smoking. Bell walked off a ways down the street. He stood. He came back up the sidewalk, his boots grinding in the glass. The sheriff flipped his cigarette into the street. You go up Adams there about a half a block youll see a blood trail.
What are you sayin Ed Tom? That they drilled his brains out with a Black and Decker?
Yes.
IT WAS ALMOST A three hour drive to Odessa and dark when he got there. He listened to the truckers on the radio. Has he got jurisdiction up here? Come on. Hell if I know. I think if he sees you committin a crime he does. Well Im a reformed criminal then. You got that right old buddy.
Carla Jean. Is that all right?
